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THE SPECIALISTS
FALLS COUNT ANYWHERE 5/22: Donofrio's Top Stories of the Week - Savage, WWE, TNA, independents, social media, outside wrestling

May 22, 2011 - 4:17:02 PM
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By Tony Donofrio, PWTorch specialist

WWE
SavageRandyMic_JW150.jpg

-The death of Randy Savage a/k/a Randy Poffo was, without a doubt, the biggest news story this week in all of pro wrestling. I was a bit surprised, but not shocked, about the mainstream coverage that took place. I guess I shouldn't be, though, as Savage is probably on a lot of people's Top 10 or Top 5 all-time lists and was a popular figure outside of pro wrestling due to his Slim Jim commercials. It's sad to see anyone die at such a young age and Savage is no exception. What is also sad is this may pave the way more easily for him to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. My condolences go out to the friends and family of the Savage/Poffo family.

-Twice this week, WWE changed the name of their second October PPV that was formerly named Bragging Rights. First, it was changed to Uprising and later in the week to Vengeance (an old WWE PPV name). While this is a good idea, it's disappointing that WWE never used Bragging Rights the right way. The PPV, in theory and on paper, could've been a bigger deal. However, when the brand extension means nothing for nearly three-quarters of the year, the PPV and "brand pride" mostly means nothing. When that happens, what's the motivation for fans to buy the PPV? Therein lies the problem for WWE.

This issue has been discussed in-depth by Torch columnists and staff, and everyone (except for those making the decisions around Vince McMahon) seems to agree that themed PPVs is, by and large, a terrible concept. Themed PPVs aren't what drives the buys, unless there's an organic reason for said PPVs. Fans will be motivated to spend to see great matches and conclusions/continuations of great storytelling (and by storytelling I don't mean non-wrestling entertainment). I can only hope that this is the start of a slow death to the themed PPVs (with the exception of the Royal Rumble, of course).

TNA

-So, the company is TNA and the show is now named Impact Wrestling. Got it. At least for this week...

-Did wrestling matter this week? Let's break it down by the numbers. TNA delivered five matches on Thursday night. Not bad. Those matches went a combined 20 minutes, with one of them going 50 seconds. That's an average of four minutes per match (for those that don't call math a strong suit). Uh-oh. The show's opening and closing quarter-hours (including the over-run) had no wrestling whatsoever and included three in-ring promo segments. Nothing screams that wrestling DOESN'T matter more than the first showing of the re-branded Impact Wrestling.

It can be argued (and it was by my friend John; there's your plug, thank me later) that this will be a slow transition into wrestling meaning more. That's all well and good, but here's what I believe. If you start a campaign for something, anything, you start that campaign full-force and you want to hit the ground running. If TNA wanted to ease into wrestling being a stronger focal point compared to what it used to be, they could've slowly built the product up over weeks or even months before launching its "Wrestling Matters" campaign. Then, once the campaign was under way, it would have been positioned to start strong that this is what TNA is all about.

WWE did something similar with how it first started to promote itself as PG. They slowly toned things down over a months before they really started to promote the "we are PG" pledge that they so proudly stand behind now. WWE didn't make a huge deal about being PG at first, but told people (including advertisers) to be patient; that the campaign would slowly work its way out. WWE proved itself for a while first and then launched into full "PG propaganda mode." TNA has a long way to go to prove to me, and many others, that wrestling really does matter to them. The launch to their campaign is off to a bad start, to say the least.

Independent Wrestling

-One of the biggest stories in all of wrestling, and one of the most exciting, goes to Ring of Honor. Rumors had circulated much of the week that a huge announcement, including a TV deal, would be announced on Saturday. More or less, all of those rumors are true. ROH's sale to Sinclair Broadcast Group appears to be a big win in all ways for ROH. Sinclair is keeping the ROH hierarchy intact to run the promotion, while they'll syndicate the TV show nationally via its TV stations and Internet. More details are to be announced in June, but one thing that has been announced is the first TV taping will be in August in Chicago (a great wrestling city and choice for ROH) for the new show debuting in September.

While I'd like this to happen a lot sooner, I don't mind anticipating all summer-long what will be TV's best wrestling show come September. Many wrestling fans have waited for this deal for nearly two months, as was evidenced by the response on Twitter. Shortly after the deal was announced, ROH was a trending topic in the United States. This is a huge announcement for ROH. If you're a wrestling fan and find yourself banging your head against a wall after watching WWE and/or TNA programming, then I advise that come September, you find a way to catch the newest edition of ROH on TV.

Wrestling's Social Media Moment of the Week

-This week's honor goes to the interaction between Paul Heyman, Steve Austin, and C.M. Punk on Twitter. Heyman ranted earlier this week about his disappointment and frustration with WWE for not properly utilizing Punk as its top heel because he brings out the best in each of his opponents. He also thought that his rants would somehow bring some office heat upon Punk. Interestingly enough, Austin agreed with Heyman about how underutilized Punk is. Punk, in typical fashion for him, told Heyman that the heat would help to keep him warm.

hile the interaction is nothing to get all excited about, Heyman couldn't be more right about Punk. I believe Punk is the best heel in the biz and should be near the top of every card WWE has right now. It is highly speculated that Punk may not be re-signing with WWE. This past week, Punk scoring a victory on Raw fueled speculation he may be back in WWE's good graces. I think that's very premature based on one match. However, based on the underutilization of Punk, could you blame him for not re-signing? Let's not forgot that last fall Punk was "one of Vince's favorites" as he even found his way onto the Raw commentary team just to keep him visible to the fans. I just hope that Vince McMahon finds a way to keep Punk around because losing him would be much bigger than many realize.

Non-Wrestling Thought of the Week

-"The Hangover" is one of those movies that whenever it comes on TV, I will watch it as if I don't have a choice. The only fear that any fan should have about Part 2 coming out this weekend is that it could hurt the legacy of the first one. It's very hard to find sequels that are better than the original (and yes, "Weekend at Bernies 2" is an exception to that rule as it blows the first movie out of the water!). I have strayed from watching many previews for Part 2 and when they come on TV, I usually divert my attention to something else so that I don't build it up too much in my head, setting myself up for a potential letdown. If all else fails and Part 2 is a bomb, I will immediately go out and see the movie Bridesmaids with Kristen Wiig (my favorite SNL cast member), as I heard that it is hysterically funny and the essentially the female version of The Hangover. If you are one of "those people" that thought The Hangover was "only okay," then I encourage you to email me with detailed reasons why it wasn't funny to you. It doesn't mean you're going to persuade me otherwise, but you should get out your frustrations. I'm told that voicing your opinions via writing is always therapeutic!

Tony Donofrio is a Specialist for the Torch covering a variety of different promotions and writes a Hits & Misses column after every WWE PPV. You can contact Tony at Tony.Donofrio@ymail.com or follow him on Twitter @TonyDonofrio

[Torch photo credit Wade Keller (c) PWTorch.com]


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